HARVARD Faculty of Arts and Sciences

"Manifiesto por la lectura was envisioned and written to encourage reading on a national level in Irene Vallejo's native Spain. In times of fierce competition from digital forms of entertainment, Vallejo argues that reading is an active pursuit, one that engages all of our senses through imagination, and compels us to better understand the lives, feelings, and thought processes of both our contemporaries and people from distant lands and times. Citing Martha Nussbaum, she argues that reading literature is even fundamental to the success of democracy. Through reading, we can imagine a future that will unite us." --Erin Goodman, the translator.